Walesa Endorses Romney

Faithful readers of The American Catholic will recall the incident, recounted here, when President Obama chose to snub Lech Walesa, the near legendary former President of Poland, who, as the leader of Solidarity, along with Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan, sounded the death knell of European Communism, as being “too political”. Yesterday Walesa got “too political” again:

Two months ago, President Obama’s team refused to host former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize Lech Walesa at the White House, claiming that he was too “political” to participate in the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony.

Today, Walesa — an anti-Communist freedom fighter — got political. “Gov. Romney, get your success, be successful!” Walesa said in Poland during a meeting with the former governor. “Poland and many other countries will certainly do their best for the United States to restore its leadership position. And after our conversation, I’m quite confident that you will be successful in doing that,” The Washington Post quoted him as saying.

The endorsement comes two months after Obama refused to host Walesa at the White House. The Polish government had requested that Walesa receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom that was posthumously awarded to Jan Karski, who served in the Polish Underground during World War II.

Go here to read the rest at The Washington Examiner. If Obama were a student of Polish history he might recall that the Poles, although they have suffered much, have also tended to have had the last laugh on their adversaries throughout their always glorious, frequently colorful and often tragic history. This endorsement will be important among Polish-Americans and all Americans who treasure freedom.

I had forgotten that the Obama White House had rejected a request from the Polish Government that the retired President of Poland receive an award on behalf of the deceased. One grasps for an explanation (other than the President or Valerie Jarret or someone disapproves of Lech Walesa’s career – must have been some disagreeable article in The Nation about him).

If I remember correctly, a couple of years ago, Walesa appeared in Chicago at a campaign/fundraising event for Adam Andrejewski, a GOP candidate for governor, who was one of half a dozen GOP primary candidates at the time. I believe Walesa said at the time that he saw a lot of himself in Adam A. (not sure I want to try spelling his last name from memory again), as someone trying to stand up against a corrupt system. Adam A. didn’t win, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him on the political scene.